The building of Fort Leonard Wood in 1941 created
a demand for any available sleeping space. Construction workers
often slept in shifts in any available shelter. A sleeping room
at the Tourist Hotel was a welcome accomodation.

There were four rooms upstairs prior to WWII
but by 1950 there were only two large apartment rooms and a middle
kitchen. Of course, all of the rooms were in bad shape.

Beaverboard panels were removed from the ceiling
to expose the original beadboard.

A partition was replaced to partition the large
apartment into the two original sleeping rooms.

The partition was covered with beadboard that
was saved from restoration work done in other rooms, as well as
some taken from the adjacent room that would become the Restoration
Gallery.

This room showed no signs of wallpaper during
this period but paint scraping revealed a light brown paint under
the current bright blue paint.

Acquiring appropriate period pieces from the
early 1940s proved to be just as interesting as pieces from the
19th century. Authenticity is often in the details, such as this
local lumber yard thermometer. The number to call, by the way,
is "90".

This partial view of the sleeping room indicates
how it might have looked to boarders during the early days of
World War II. Construction workers, as well as soldiers, kept
the proprietors busy.

For an account of an oral history from an occupant
during this era, click
here.